Shaw66

Very interesting point about last week. By Friday, I'd reached the conclusion that that loss was essentially all on Allen. He simply did not do his job. Defense was more than good enough. Whether he's learned his lesson, we'll think. I think it's in his nature to play a bit out of control; in high school, junior college, and college, that was always the most likely way his team was going to win, because he had physical skills that were just better than the competition he faced. He's leaned to play that way. It's a habit. It's not so much learning the lesson as it is changing his habit. Most people don't just quit smoking one day and not be at risk of going back. I think what Josh has to do is build on the Raider game next week, and do it again - that is, be mindful of those decision-making habits. Then do it again the following week, and the week after that. As playing that way becomes a habit, he'll see that his team has more success when he plays that way. That habit really is the threshold he has to get across, because when playing like that - making the right decisions, play after play, allows the QB to prepare better, week to week, to learn more, because you can see that your body is good enough to deliver exactly the play that is intended. That's the kind of thinking about the game that allows the QB to develop true excellence, like Peyton, Brady, Rodgers. The objective is to make the right decision EVERY time, because that's what makes your superior physical skills truly valuable.

I think they're used to make it sound like the guy is more talented than he probably is. "He's one of only three players in the history of the game who had 450 yards passing, 3 passing touchdowns and 1 rushing touchdown in the first two games of consecutive seasons. The other two were John Elway and Aaron Rodgers." First, so what? And second, by changing the variables, you get a completely different list: "He's one of only three players to have i425 yards passing, 2 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns in each of his first two games of consecutive seasons: The other two are Tyrod Taylor and Elvis Grbac." So, they tell you the first one, because they want you to think that his greatness matches Elway and Rodgers, and they don't want you to think he's Taylor and Grbac. By the way, I completely made up the examples, but it demonstrates why this "analysis" based on what are merely statistical coincidences.

I like all of these comments. Interesting topics. Someone suggested that the opening series play calling was a message to Allen: We're doing this by the book, and we're not giving you even an opportunity to make a big play. If your teammates all do their job, you'll grind out a first down, but this offense is not going to depend you, Josh Allen, to carry the team. Whether it was intentional, I think it had that effect. I'm usually a "take the points" guy, but I liked going for it. Three minutes left, so if you don't make it, you're telling the Raiders they have to move the ball at least 60 yards just to get a field goal. And you have confidence that your defense is up to the challenge. In fact, on third down is when Rousseau made the great bull rush and Oliver forced Garoppolo to throw it away to avoid the safety. I liked the gamble, thought it was relatively low risk.

Yeah. He has to learn and control his behavior to fit the game. By the way, I saw some whirling dervishes a few months ago. Fascinating.

Weren't they on at the same time as the Bills? Yeah, I know. It's volume that distinguishes the two. Mahomes gets tempted by the big play, too. Whatever. I was encouraged yesterday. The Bills need to keep Josh's head on straight. And, by the way, pass protection helps! Easy to lose your head when some big dudes are in your face all day.

You're really right about this. I was disappointed to go three and out, and I was disappointed that something better didn't happen on that play. But my feelings aren't what's important. What's important is that Josh showed he understood that he doesn't have to win the game on every play. Games are long, and if the opportunity to make a play doesn't present itself this time, there will be plenty of opportunities at other times. There are two questions: What do you do on a play that's going nowhere, and what do you do on a play when you have a good chance to make something happen. Josh answered both questions yesterday.

You're right. I just posted the same thought in Virgil's thread. Josh should recognize that when the guy stays high, Josh can just power right through him.

These aren't records. They're just data trifectas that the media dredge out of the endless stats that are available.

Josh has to begin to recognize when guys are going to stay up to stop the leap, because he has the size just to drive those guys downfield. Josh had the TD there if he had gone low.

In case you’re wondering, across Abbott Road from Highmark Stadium where thousands of Bills fans used to park, there’s a huge hole in the ground. I mean really huge. Big enough to put a whole football field in it. In fact, as I understand, Kim and Terry Pegula are planning to do just that. Of course, all of the people who used to park there now must park somewhere else, and they all must find their way to those somewhere elses. The powers that be, Erie County and Orchard Park and the Buffalo Bills, probably made their best collective guesses about how to get all of those people to all of those different parking spaces before Sunday’s home opener against the Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland-Las Vegas Raiders, but their guesses weren’t good enough. There was a LOT of traffic pregame, and leaving the stadium wasn’t any better. I took my usual route, south on Union Road and then southwest on Southwestern at about 9:30. That’s when I first began suspecting that something was wrong. Cars were backed up from the stadium almost all the way to Union. Not a good sign. An hour later, I still hadn’t entered the stadium parking lot. It was a mess. We stayed until the end of the game, and then we stayed in the club for twenty minutes or more to watch the end of the 1:00 p.m. games. By the time we got to the car, just about all of the fans were at least 40 minutes ahead of us, and it still took us more than a half hour to get out of the lot. Cars were everywhere. I did learn something while stuck in the pregame traffic: WGR’s Jeremy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Sunday morning, he said over and over again that Bills fans had to take Josh Allen’s bad with his good. He said that if you want all those miraculous things that Josh Allen and no one else can do, you have to take the bone-headed turnovers and the bone-jarring collisions. He said that eliminating Josh’s mistakes will eliminate his greatness. Think about that for a minute. It’s more or less axiomatic that good QBs throw about three TD passes for every one interception. He seemed to be saying that we all have to live with a couple of stupid interceptions a game (like against the Jets last week), which means that if Josh is going be a good QB, he needs to throw six TDs a game. Josh may be great, but he isn’t that great. No. Jeremy White was pretending he knew what he was talking about when in fact he doesn’t have a clue. Here’s the simple proof. Patrick Mahomes is a great QB. He and Josh Allen are the only QBs in the league who regularly do magical thinks on the field. All the other QBs are just football players; every week, Mahomes and Allen make throws that are among the top highlights on every network. What’s the difference between the two? Well, about five years ago, Mahomes stopped making stupid plays. That’s the difference. When Allen stops making stupid plays, he will be one of the greatest QBs of all time, possibly even the very best. The only thing keeping Allen from being that great are the mistakes that Jeremy White tells us we should live with. The good news for Buffalo Bills fans is that Jeremy White isn’t the Bills’ head coach. We all can be sure that Sean McDermott is not telling Josh Allen that those 50-yard throws into double coverage are okay. No, Sean McDermott actually understands football. Sunday it was clear that Sean McDermott and Ken Dorsey had taken Allen out behind the proverbial woodshed and whipped his proverbial butt and told him the proverbial beatings would continue until he stopped playing like a proverbial jackass. Or something like that. Allen got the message. Sunday afternoon, pass play after pass play, Allen followed the script. He took the throw he was supposed to take, delivered the ball accurately, and moved on to the next play. Lots of those throws were little dump offs to receivers two yards downfield for four-yard gains. There were more or less no spectacular 45-yard darts across the field that left us exclaiming that no one else could make that throw. But guess what? Those stupid little dump offs kept adding up to six-and eight-minute touchdown drives. Over and over. What about Allen’s greatness? Oh, it was still there, for sure. It was there in all three touchdown passes: A rocket to Gabriel Davis that would have whizzed through the hands of almost any receiver who hadn’t spent three years catching Allen rockets. An exquisite fake handoff and rollout to find Dawson Knox alone in the endzone. A trademark it’s-a-pass-no-it’s-a-run-no-it’s-a-pass-how-did-he-do-that? to Khalil Shakir. An Allen rollout right and perfect floater into Davis’s hands for a first down, a throw with the kind of touch that people used to say Allen didn’t have. Yes, some people might say, but where was the deep ball? What about that play when Allen hit Kincaid for a first down on the sideline as Davis had broken deep up the same sideline? What about it? The whole point of what’s been wrong with Allen’s game is that he often passes up the easy completion for a higher-risk-higher-reward throw. Trying to hit Davis on that play was going to get Allen another trip to the woodshed. Instead, he took the easy first down and moved on to the next play. When did Allen throw it deep? Once, when he had Diggs one-on-one. Not one-on-two, like last week when Josh threw an interception. Diggs one-on-one deep is a good play. The pass interference call set up a touchdown. Against the Raiders, Josh Allen played with the efficiency that makes Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa so difficult to play against. But Allen was playing that way with a right arm those guys can only dream of. He was playing that way with the ability to escape and run at any time. Against the Raiders, we saw what Josh Allen can be, week after week. McDermott and Dorsey need to figure out how to get that Josh Allen to show up every week. If it takes a weekly trip to the woodshed, so be it. Meanwhile, it’s still a team game, and there are a lot of other guys on the team. For example: Greg Rousseau. Wow. He’s added the bull rush to his repertoire, and now he’s a terror. There were others, but the play that stands out was in the third quarter, third down. He drove the offense tackle straight into Garoppolo, who escaped to his right. Oliver flashed under Groot and was in the QB’s face in an instant, forcing a throw-away and a punt. Rousseau is becoming special. Terrel Bernard. The guy is not perfect, but he’s far from a liability. Instant-quick recognition, real quickness to the ball, and picture-perfect tackling technique. Gabriel Davis. Offensive line. Josh had the time he needed, and the room to run when time expired. The running back room. What a great mix of backs. Each can do multiple things, but none of them does all the same things as the others. Each is a threat to run or to catch it out of the backfield. Each is a threat to make quality plays. Did Milano catch that ball, or was it the receiver’s head? Or both? What a play. Diggs? Give it time. As Josh keeps hurting teams short, the time is coming when Diggs will break free. Great game! GO BILLS!!! The Rockpile Review is written to share the passion we have for the Buffalo Bills. That passion was born in the Rockpile; its parents were everyday people of western New York who translated their dedication to a full day’s hard work and simple pleasures into love for a pro football team.

I'm hoping to drop in. Don't need parking.

I'll light a candle at St. Benedict's.

See, I don't think that's correct. If have to accept him for what he is, then they should trade him for picks and start. When I look at franchise QBs, what makes them great is decision making, not physical abilities. Vick and Newton weren't great. Rodgers was better than Favre, because Rodgers was a more reliable decision maker. Elway didn't win until he became a reliable decision maker. Brady and Peyton killed opponents with their brains. Josh needs to play with the mental discipline that Mahomes, Burrow, and Tua have. When he does that, he will be great. If he's never going to play with that kind of discipline, then the Bills may as well start over.

Bernard, yes, and Hyde/Poyer, whom they also rely on to get the defense positioned. The safeties should have seen this.

You see, I think sitting on the sideline and just talking, Josh can tell you all of that. He knows it. The problem is when faced with those decisions under fire, his brain reverts to old habits. His brain needs to be trained to recognize the situation and to do the right thing. It isn't enough just know it. It's the same thing as hitters trying to lay off the high fastball. It isn't enough to know you shouldn't; checking the swing has to become a habit. Like drinking beer and getting paid a lot for making silly commercials.

Thanks. I don't think it's a Palmer problem. I think Josh can look at film and see things. It's developing the right thinking habits. Being emotionally prepared for the game (I don't think he was last night. He had the deer in the deadliest look.) And it's having the right habits when he's looking and processing pre- and post-snap. Last night I noticed when they showed him looking g at the defense pre-snap, his facial expression made me think he was trying to figure out what he was seeing. It should be automatic. It should be quick, orderly. It should be a habit. That's brain training.

I agree. Josh needs to get his head on straight for games. He has to learn how to focus and stay focused. It's a mental skill, and that's what sports psychologists do.

I don't know if it's an innate talent, but it certainly comes more naturally to some than to others. He has to learn it, just like he has to learn (and has to a great learned the touch passes). On the first interception (I think), he had Sherfield (I think, crossing from right to left (the same way Josh had scramble), and Sherfield was deeper than the defender. Since the receiver Josh tried to hit was crossing the other way, downfield from Sherfield was all open space. Josh could have thrown Sherfield open up field by just getting a little air under it, the kind of touch pass you're talking about. It would have been a much better choice than the play he made.

I agree, for a slightly different reason. I think the play exemplified the real problem with Josh, which is that he is not focused mentally. He makes a lot of mistakes, because he isn't thinking the way a qb needs to think. The fumbled snap and then the fumble was another. His thoughts have to be on the right thing, always. Watch Tua, watch Burrow. When they scramble, they aren't wildly looking around trying to find someone. They KNOW where the receivers are, they make a decision, and they go there. Focused thinking. Josh's brain knows not to make that leap, but his thinking isn't sharp enough, focused enough, to control his decision making. Its a big problem, as we saw last night. B

Wow! That IS weird.

It's funny. I paid very little attention to when Campbell was on the field, but one play stood out. It was a nice, diving pass break up on a throw up the middle. It was a more athletic play on the ball than we're accustomed to seeing from Edmunds. Not that I'm drawing any conclusions about the guy, but it was a nice play.

I was trying out Sunday Ticket, so I watched something less than a quarter of the game. I was surprised to see him make several plays in the running game, not the classic guy who's joining a tackle. One where he just stuffed a running back in the hole and ended up on the bottom of the pile. A couple of stops, shared sometimes, outside the tackle. He looked more like the linebacker I'd always hoped he become, the Keuchel clone only taller and faster. He wasn't much of a factor in the passing game, so far as I saw. Makes me wonder whether his assignment is different in the Bears' defense. He looked much more like an old-fashioned middle linebacker.

Happy Birthday to our Founding Father!

If the Bills win tonight, the narrative will be the division comes down to Bills and Dolphins.

It worked fine, as I've said. But YouTube has screwed me on the price. Long story, but I bought Sunday ticket at the introductory price, and when I tried to login yesterday, I couldn't. After an hour, their help desk called back and told me my subscription had been canceled, they were issuing me a refund, and if I wanted to watch the games, I had to buy a new subscription. This after I had been told that my subscription was not cancelable. So, they issued a refund to my credit card and I bought a new subscription, (at the regular price) which cost me over $100 more. I spent 2 hours on the phone this morning to get them to refund the difference, and I got the usual runaround. I talked to an agent, a specialist, and his supervisor. They all agreed what they did was unfair, but they have do their own internal investigation. They said at some point, they would email me. BS.